ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the empirical data from various sources with respect to political alienation and political protest. Political alienation and protest refer to that subsystem of the total social system that is responsible for the creation and implementation of decisions binding the whole system. The empirical analysis of political alienation and protest should be based on longitudinal data from those twenty-five to thirty-five nations that qualify as competitive democracies. The most interesting longitudinal crossnational survey data base presently consists of the biannual studies sponsored by the European Commission in Brussels, the results of which are published in the so-called eurobarometers. As more and more democracies travel the road toward party government, the presently central role of political parties in and for the democratic process is increasingly highlighted—notwithstanding the vastly different role parties play in the United States. The major deficiencies lie in the inability to separate out the two Eastonian dimensions of specific and diffuse support.
